Ride. Write.

DAY-BY-DAY

A tire dip, a quick pack and Precious and I set off into the great unknown. Yorktown, with its steaming hot beach, waves me goodbye and I wobble toward Williamsburg. Perhaps I should’ve packed the trailer differently? It’s a short first day, but just what I needed to ease myself into itDistance: 16.86 miles

The rain bucketed down pretty much all day, and I kinda got a bit lost. It was miserable and the day started to close in on me. I ended up having an amazing stroke of luck and maybe some divine intervention. A port in a storm and all that.Distance: 54.11 miles

As the rain eased off, I leave the comfort of the Willis Church and head toward my future. When I get there, I bump into three touring cyclists who’ve been on the road for 14 days from Maine down to Virginia. Strangers at the start, friends at the finish.Distance: 38.80 miles

It was going to be my first 90 mile day. Things started off well, but then unravelled in a big way. Crash. Darkness. Waking up looking at helicopter blades as I was airlifted to hospital. My adventure of a lifetime came to an abrupt halt today.Distance: 65 miles

Transamerica 2 point oh
Yesterday, I rode out to the crash site for the unofficial restart. I didn’t tell anyone. Today, I set off from Charlottesville with a cyclist who didn’t want me riding by myself on the first real day back.Distance: 27.47 miles

Totally Blue Ridge Day
After a night in the Cookie Lady’s cycle hostel I set off into some heavy Blue Ridge Mountains fog. My first real day of climbing was tough with steep descents that really hurt my wrist when braking.Distance: 52.98 miles

The Tardy Day
Camp Bethel lets cyclist camp there for a mere $5 a night. I spend the night in total darkness with no-one around. It’s spooky, even for this farm girl. Every crack of a twig in the forest signaled boogeymen.Distance: 40.66 miles

The Bastard Day
I cannot tell a lie, this was a truly terrible day. Hot, hot, hot, and I stupidly fell into a ditch while clipped in. Some horrible steepness today, plus a bent derailleur. I’m in pain.Distance: 66.11 miles

DAY 9: REST DAY

The Reset Day
There is absolutely no shame in walking up a hill. I say this because I walked up three today. Stretched out and pushing in the horrible heat. Who cares, as long as I’m still moving forward. Right?Distance: 58 miles

The Freewheeling Day
Had the best descent of the trip so far today. Down into Damascus and by the Virginia Creeper Trail. Also ate a country fried steak for the first time in my life today and although it stopped my heart, it also melted it.Distance: 55.88 miles

DAY 12: REST DAY, DAMASCUS, VA

The Switchback Day
Hayter’s Gap gives a body a lot to hate, that’s for sure. With switchback after switchback, this poor cyclist sweated out half her soul. Ended up in a church having a shower under a hose and eating spaghetti out of a can.Distance: 33.16 miles

The Social Day
Met several cyclists today, and ended up riding for the afternoon with a German bloke. I know I slowed him down, but we ended up splitting the cost of a campsite and staying at The Breaks National Park.Distance: 44.08 miles

Humbled. That’s me today. I suffered up some horrible climbs and the horrible heat and was severely dumped on by the rain, only to find the hotel closed down three months again and the B&B was no longer operational. Amazing things happen though!Distance: 72.40 miles

Rain is one thing. Fork lightning and thunder rumbles and massive sheets of torrential rain are another entirely. A deluge day where I was rained on several times and ended up with feet like prunes and a new respect for wet-weather gear.Distance: 64.33 miles

A foggy start and then I’m on my way to Berea, gateway to the Appalachians – if you’re coming the other way! For me, it means that the horrible yet beautiful mountains are behind me. All that lays in front are the Ozarks, then Kansas, then the Rockies.Distance: 56.34 miles

DAY 18: REST DAY, BEREA, KY

Today, for the first time on this trip, I actually reach for my HALT! dog spray to ward off an evil beast. Also, and not for the first time this trip, I am verbally abused out a car window. I choose to mis-hear the sentiment and carry on regardless.Distance: 52.88 miles

Another scorcher of a day where I trip upon some Lincoln sites and wander around their ancient history. Before I cook completely, I bungle on to Bardstown and camp at My Old Kentucky State Park in the shade of some giant trees. Again, alone except for Precious and Zimmerman.Distance: 45.06 miles

An early rise, a slow slog, and I end up at a campground that is, once again, deserted. Fortunately down the road I find an all-you-can-eat buffet and bump into two touring cyclists who are great for a yarn and some tips for what’s ahead.Distance: 97.19 miles

Each day is slightly hotter than the one previous. To say it’s a drag is an understatement. I find myself dreaming of cool things to eat and drink and today my prayers are answered by a pastor and his wife in Sebree. Watermelon, you complete me.Distance: 74.85 miles

The hottest day yet and I barely make it through. Shade is a commodity – I don’t have any. We finish on a high note by crossing the Ohio river on a ferry and diving headlong into the welcoming humidity of Illinois and the quiet pirate’s hideaway of Cave in Rock.Distance: 55.93 miles

I made friends today. Not really, but a bloodhound ran with me for several miles in the blazing heat and I felt we had a bond. Legs blew up in the end and I decide to take a hard won rest day in Carbondale. Precious is even going to get some bike shop love!Distance: 89.45 miles

DAY 25: REST DAY, CARBONDALE, IL

And it begins… My longest day so far, made longer by me heading the wrong way twice and hitting the start of what I’m guessing is the Ozarks. I end up rolling into Farmington well after dark, but landing at the BEST cycling hostel ever.Distance: 110.47 miles

DAY 27: REST DAY, FARMINGTON, MO

And now we’re in the Ozarks proper. I stop to rest at Johnson’s Shut-Ins which is described as being an ‘oasis’. It is, but I don’t go check out the swimming holes. I spend the day waiting for the real horror of the Ozarks. It never really comes. Perhaps tomorrow?Distance: 65.29 miles

Rolling, rolling. Legs dotted pink with poison ivy cream, I push off into the morning and see how far I get. The answer is Summersville, where I find myself in a tiny hotel that turns out to be the cheapest room I’ve had so far. With the ugliest bedspread.Distance: 44.88 miles

I’m almost out of the dreaded (though surprisingly easy) Ozarks, I can feel it! Can’t wait to say goodbye to the roller-coasters. Today was a longish day, which included an encounter with dogs, a Scotsman, and some cheap ribs at a fast food joint.Distance: 88.43 miles

Pie! Pie! Pie! The day just fades into meaninglessness after heading to Cookies in Golden City to try some of the famous pie. I tell you, America, you are so damn awesome because of one thing: Pie. I will eat it in my dreams after today.Distance: 81.63 miles

Kansas! Hazzah! Another state down and today, I go very close to hitting another century. Dog chases, road closures and long, straight lonely roads fill the hours before I pull up for a well-deserved (in my opinion) rest day at a Super 8.Distance: 97.79 miles

DAY 33: REST DAY, CHANUTE, KS

The Tumbleweed Day
Kansas gives me her first taste of wind today. Not super bad, but super annoying and I tumble along gaily, right into Eureka. Another day where I regret having forgotten to bring a swimsuit.Distance: 63.34 miles

The Iceman Cometh Day
My knees are starting to collapse in on themselves to form a black hole of immense pain. A slog of a windy day and I crawl, crawl, crawl into Newton to seek out a hotel with a large supply of ice for zee knees.Distance: 75.27 miles

The Backwards Day
A mighty long day for a mighty complaining girl and her bike. Kansas is pure rural magnificence. Tractors, fields of corn and sorghum, oil pump-jacks. I plow on just like one of those tractors.Distance: 106.57 miles

The Devil Day
Yep, pretty sure Kansas tried to kill me today. It means to end me, either by stabbing my eyes endless straightaways or by blowing me away into the welcoming bosom of the horizon.Distance: 53.50 miles

The Geometry Day
Great sightseeing today. Precious and I ventured to see the Skyscraper of the Plains in Ness City. Ok, that was it. We spent most of the day going imperceptibly up. Slow inclines mean no free-wheeling. Ugh.Distance: 68.74 miles

The No Country for Old Broads Day
Colorado. Colorado! A big day, for Colorado is the state that holds the half-way point of the Transamerica Trail. It also holds the Rockies. And bears. But lets not think about that.Distance: 104.04 miles

The Fantastic Mr. Fox Day
Oh, come on! Just give me the mountains already! Another day of empty desolation, broken only by the appearance of the longest abandoned train ever and an encounter with a fox.Distance: 62.89 miles

The Read the Signs Day
Oh, happy day! Starts in the dark, finishes in the wind. My job is to just get through the day for two glorious days off and a chance to give Precious some serious bike shop love.Distance: 45.10 miles

The Gristle Grind Day
After two day’s rest, you’d think I’d be all spry and champing at the bit. But no. This is a pain day. An out of nowhere, horrible, windy, moany pain day that I can’t wait to see the end of. Ugh.Distance: 48.12 miles

The Skeletal Day
Zimmerman gets a flat. Speaking of flats, the road isn’t any more. It is, on the bottom. 🙂 The reality of the time suck of the Rockies claims 40 miles out of my goal for the day.Distance: 41.69 miles

The Ticker Tape Day
A cold start and some pronghorn sightings. A slow, steady climb before a gentle roll into Fairplay. The Rockies loom large on my TODO list, and tomorrow will be the highest point of the trip.Distance: 45.14 miles

The Grintonium™ Day
In which I climb a bloody big mountain and feel pretty awesome about myself. I then spend the afternoon racing to beat the sun and make it to Kremmling before I turn into a pumpkin.Distance: 84.16 miles